NILD Connection

Women in Higher Education Newsletter Article Oct. 2009

NEWS  RELEASE

July 23, 2009

For over a quarter of a century, the National Institute for Leadership Development (NILD) was the instrumental and inspirational provider of leadership training for women in American Community Colleges.   Originally established as “Leaders for the 80’s,” the organization was initiated through a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to the League for Innovation in the Community College and partnered with the American Association for Women in Community College and the Maricopa Community College District.  The co-founders, Dr. Mildred Bulpitt and the late Dr. Carolyn Desjardins, created an organization that became the seminal avenue for women (and men) to ascend and crack the glass ceiling of executive office in community colleges.  NILD’s sphere of influence has reached over 5,000 individuals nationwide and instituted the first “sisterhood” of potential female leaders, many of whom still refer to themselves and colleagues as “sisters.”

Now NILD is again showing initiative and leadership in re-engineering the organization.  After more than a year of research and reflection, NILD board chair Dr. Marsi Liddell announced the reorganization outcomes.  Liddell stated that, following a transition year which included the retirement of Dr. Carrole Wolin and serious study about the leadership needs and expectation of contemporary women in community colleges, the NILD board made a decision that would address best ways to fulfill its mission for the future.  The decision is multi-faceted and based on a reunification of NILD and the American Association for Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC).

“Leaders,” the well recognized training program for individuals interested in more responsibility, leaves Phoenix College at the Maricopa Community College District and will be re-invented at the Community College of Baltimore County.   Kaleidoscope, the highly praised forum for minority women, will remain at Coastline Community College in California.  The very special CEO Issues Forum will continue at selected colleges around the country, and the professional development activities and conference opportunities will be handled directly by AAWCC.   All of these forums, workshops and activities will continue to be supported and advocated by AAWCC and all of its local chapters and can be accessed through the AAWCC website at www.aawccnatl.org.

According to Liddell, “it is so very difficult to name every single person who needs recognition for all of the efforts of NILD, past and present.  Certainly, thanks for the vision of Mildred Bulpitt and Carolyn Desjardins and the caretaking of Carrole Wolin is necessary.  Further, without the commitment of Phoenix College and the Maricopa Community College District, the organization would have surely faltered, if not collapsed.  We extend special thanks also to Dr. Sandra Kurtinitis and the Community College of Baltimore County for its gracious offer to take on the mantle of “Leaders,” to Dr. Ding-Jo Currie and Coastline Community College for continuing to host Kaleidoscope, and to the national leadership of AAWCC to accept this far-reaching initiative.  On a personal note, I want to express deep appreciation to the current Board of Directors of NILD for their courage and patience and also to Dr. Martha Romero and Ethel Rogers who stepped in as transitional administrators during this past year.    The spirit of NILD will live on in all of the organizations that have now become channels to further the original mission and vision of the National Institute for Leadership Development.

Contact:        Dr. Marsi Liddell, NILD Board Chair & Aims Community College President

                      (970) 339-6210

                      marsi.liddell@aims.edu